The Gores Group And Digital Signage? Umm, We Don’t Think So!
Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
When you have just been acquired by a Private Equity firm and you are part of a small, inconsequential group in terms of revenue and you’ve screwed up big time wasting USD 30 million or more on a retail deal gone wrong you’d think you would be a little wary of the future.
.. see what happens when u spend USD 30M?
Not so, Denise MacDonell, Harris DOOH general manager who assured us yesterday that the whole digital signage team and technology WILL be moving with the Harris Broadcast Communications Division to be a Gores Group portfolio company.
Denise was also rather upbeat on the whole affair – though personally I wouldn’t expect that to last too long once the Gores Group figures out that there is no money to be made in digital signage software and that the group, under Denise’s leadership, has been poorly managed for some time.
Denise MacDonell told our NA Editor Gail Chiasson “It finally brings all the speculation to closure, and the announcement clearly shows The Gores Group’s interest in the entire Broadcast portfolio, including Digital Signage … we were all hoping to see it be a Private Equity firm, and even better to be one such as The Gores Group, with clear experience and interest in the retail (brand and technology) sector with portfolio companies such as Mexx, J. Mendel, Elo Touch Solutions and Equinox.
She added “There’ll be more to come as we move into the transition period with the aim to close the transaction in the next 45-60 days and start getting acquainted with our new parents.”
I don’t expect to see this private equity group stump up any money to rescue the DDN and or the 7-Eleven deal – the only ‘real’ business, they had (if you can call buying the business ‘real’ the way they did).
Realistically, as we see elsewhere, there’s not much interest in pure play digital signage software vendors from ANY private equity group out there.
December 7th, 2012 at 14:48 @658
Adrian
While your opinion and views may not always be shared by everyone in this business, no one disputes your right to pontificate and speculate about future events. However, I find it very distasteful and personally offensive when use your platform to try and hurt a person’s character and position. Those more reputable and respectful in this industry who appreciate the hard work we are all giving to grow this industry, will also find this article unnecessarily offensive.